Sm@RT – Small Ruminant Technologies – is a research programme to share knowledge and improve uptake of new digital technologies in sheep and goat farming.
This EU-funded project, led by Scotland’s Rural College, brings together a network of researchers, farmers & advisors from France, Ireland, Estonia, Italy, Hungary, Norway, UK and Israel, who will improve awareness amongst those working in the farming industry of newly available PLF tools, demonstrating their potential and possible return of investment.
Why is Sm@RT important?
Sheep and goat farming is important to the rural economy of Europe and many other countries across the world, especially in areas that are unsuitable for other farming production systems, as small ruminants are efficient convertors of poor-quality grazing into high quality protein. In Europe only, there are nearly 98 million sheep and goats.
Recent advances in new tools called precision livestock farming (PLF) and digital technologies to improve farm practices, have been developed for sectors such as the dairy industry to improve farm efficiency. However, the development and uptake of any such tools has been slower in the small ruminant industry. There is therefore a need to
improve awareness and knowledge transfer on the potential of these technology applications and return on investment. (click here for more details on Sm@RT).
Download copy of Sm@RT newsletter 1 _Dec 2022
